Koyomi Araragi
Koyomi Araragi (阿良々木 暦, Araragi Koyomi) is the protagonist of the Monogatari series. He is a third year high school student who survived a vampire attack during spring break, and barely regained his human life in the time that followed. Though he lived a relatively normal life after that incident, he kept in contact with Meme Oshino and Shinobu Oshino, the vampire that had attacked him. He's still not entirely human and certain vampire traits remain, such as regeneration. Koyomi is the titular protagonist of two arcs: ''Koyomi Vamp'' and ''Koyomi Reverse'', as well as the twelve short stories of ''Koyomimonogatari''. Appearance Koyomi is a young man with black hair, blue eyes, and a medium complexion. His hair covers his left eye; however in the Kizumonogatari films, it covers his right. He grows out his hair to hide the bite marks on his neck. If not wearing his school uniform, he dresses casually, often clad in a hoodie and jeans. As noted by his sisters, his fashion sense is far from admirable. A feature unique to Koyomi and his sisters is a very expressive ahoge, which mirrors the emotions experienced. Personality Koyomi is a laid-back individual, whose only real friend at school is Tsubasa Hanekawa. He's a poor academic student, close to failing every class except math. At home, Koyomi is the only person who thinks that his family relationship is bad, while his younger sisters, Karen Araragi and Tsukihi Araragi, believe differently. It is revealed through conversations that he's quite knowledgeable with anime; a fact which is even noted by Nadeko Sengoku once. Other characters, Mayoi Hachikuji and Hitagi Senjougahara especially, seem to speculate that Koyomi is a lolicon. He is very noble, which is why Hitagi is attracted to him. He is willing to help others at the cost of his own life. As such, the female characters he's helped are quite attached to him. He feels most comfortable talking to Mayoi about his problems. Koyomi has a desire to help those around him and believes strongly in taking responsibilty for personal matters that he could have helped despite not being any of his business.This desire causes him to behave recklessly or abuse his regeneration powers when faced with a dangerous situation. Koyomi's desire to help is often his own selfish wish and seen by those around him as being too soft towards other people. This soft behavior has led to harmful effects or distractions around Koyomi however as displayed with Nadeko's case during Nadeko Snake ''and or the resulting arcs of ''Nadeko Medusa and'' Hitagi End''. Background Koyomi is the eldest of three siblings, with Karen and Tsukihi as his younger sisters. Koyomi, Karen, and Tsukihi's parents were revealed to be police officers. Before his encounter with Hitagi, he was attacked by a vampire during spring break and became a vampire himself. Although Meme Oshino helped him become human again, there are several lingering side-effects: enhanced vision, superhuman strength, and a healing factor, which allows him to recover from non-fatal wounds within hours. He remains scared of morning sunlight, though it no longer affects him. Plot ''Hitagi Crab'' Araragi meets the quiet Hitagi Senjougahara by chance when Hitagi falls down the school's spiral staircase. There, he discovers that Hitagi weighs close to nothing. He later talks about the incident to the class representative Tsubasa Hanekawa while in the middle of their brainstorming for the upcoming school festival; unknown to Koyomi, Senjougahara overheard the conversation. Hitagi confronts Araragi about discovering her secret condition and asks him to keep quiet about it and to ignore her presence, leaving behind a piece of staple wire driven to his cheek as a threat if he breaks his promise. In spite of this, Araragi approaches Hitagi minutes later, showing the completely healed wound he got from Hitagi's attack earlier, followed by his statement that someone might be able to help her in returning to normal. Koyomi takes Hitagi by bike to Meme Oshino's place, and Araragi tells Meme about Hitagi's situation. After finding out that a supernatural entity called a "weight-crab" caused Hitagi's loss of mass, Meme agrees to help, although reminding Hitagi that only she can help herself overcome her condition.Bakemonogatari Episode 01: Hitagi Crab, Part 1 At midnight, Koyomi joins Hitagi on the ceremony that was designed to allow communication between Hitagi and the oddity that stole her weight. Initially, the ceremony went smoothly as planned, but the weight-crab that manifested suddenly attacks Hitagi. Fortunately, Meme is able to subdue the oddity enough for Hitagi to voice out her request. The weight-crab leaves soon after, curing Hitagi's condition at the cost of remembering her painful memories with her family. Hitagi then declares her friendship with Araragi. Koyomi would later become a victim to the weight-crab for some time, although it was evident that the oddity left almost immediately.Bakemonogatari Episode 02: Hitagi Crab, Part 2 ''Mayoi Snail'' On Mother's Day, Koyomi plans to spend the day at the park after having an argument with his younger sister Karen. He is soon joined by Hitagi, who sports a new attire, and she accompanies Koyomi at the park; they soon talk about Hitagi's determination to pay back her debt from Araragi and his problems at home. Araragi's attention soon shifts to a young girl who appears to be looking for directions. The girl, named Mayoi, repeatedly rejects Koyomi's friendly gestures, so he eventually loses his temper and a fight broke out between the two; unsurprisingly, Koyomi won. He then takes the chance to look at the slip of paper which has an address on it and, after asking Hitagi's help to go to where the address is, takes Mayoi along with them. She doesn't like Hitagi. Koyomi discovers that he and Hitagi are unable to locate the address Mayoi provided, so they ask help from Meme through a personal visit by Hitagi. While Koyomi waits, he talks to Mayoi and when he tries to touch her, she bites him. He has to punch her and knocks her out (again) so she releases his hand which is bleeding. Tsubasa Hanekawa passes by, sees Koyomi, and meets Mayoi, who dislikes her, too. Tsubasa find Mayoi so cute that she would "gobble her up". But Tsubasa scolds her for biting Koyomi's hand, knocks her head once, and demands an apology. Mayoi apologizes to Koyomi. Then Tsubasa also scolds Koyomi for hitting a child without explaining why so the child can understand what she did was wrong. Tsubasa asks if Mayoi lives nearby, and Koyomi explains that she is lost, but he sent Hitagi to get someone. She comments about his asking information on Hitagi, but she leaves that alone and leaves, instructing him to tell Hitagi that she said "Hi". Koyomi receives a call from Hitagi's cellphone, but Meme Oshino is who making the call. He talks about the new apparitions, and how Koyomi gets involved with them. Meme gets interrupted when he gets a threat from Hitagi and her stapler. Mene will give Hitagi the instructions of how to handle this new apparition, which is a ghost or a "lost cow". Then Meme hangs up. While Koyomi waits again, he confesses to Mayoi that he doesn't get along with his parents since he started high school, and his mother said that with his attitude he will always be a kid who can never grow up. Mayoi mispronounces Araragi's name quite a few times. Koyomi reveals some of his problems to Mayoi, and she reveals her parents breaking up and her fear of forgetting her mother to him Hitagi returns, detects the scent of another woman's shampoo (Hanekawa), apologizes and confesses that she cannot see Mayoi. Mayoi tells Koyomi her story and how she got lost while searching for her mother. Koyomi tells Hitagi that getting Mayoi to her mother is his duty. Hitagi reveals that she understands why Koyomi will help Mayoi because he is kind and will rescue anyone. She then declares that she loves him. Hitagi helps Koyomi find the address with a trick she learned from Meme. They walk in a different direction and end at an empty lot due to rezoning. Mayoi cries "I'm home!" and disappears. Hitagi ask Koyomi his reply, since she wanted him to express his feelings first. She enjoys talking with him and wants to talk with him more. He requests one condition or promise: pretend to see thing that she really can't see or pretend not to see things that you actually can - there will be none of that from now on. If they don't agree on something, then they will sit down and talk about it. She agrees, and they start to leave. She grabs his hand and asks him to put into words their new relationship. He answers "Senjougahara Fascination", and she smiles. Next morning, Koyomi sees Mayoi again and wonders why. She explains that she is now a "wandering spirit" and she will be wandering around the area for a while. She asks that if he sees her, please say "Hi!". ''Suruga Monkey'' ''Nadeko Snake'' After a reunion with his childhood aqquaintance, Sengoku Nadeko, at Kita-Shirahebi Shrine after several years, Koyomi finds out that she has been cursed with a excruciating snake curse from one of her classmates. Koyomi seeks Oshino's help in order to dispell the curse from Nadeko and gets Kanbaru's assistance in carrying out the ritual. However, the ritual involves reversing the curse back to its original caster to which Koyomi impulsively reacts badly to until Kanbaru reminds him of who he wants to save in the first place. The curse is then reversed and Nadeko is released from it. ''Tsubasa Cat'' ''Karen Bee'' At the start of summer vacation, Koyomi undergoes tutorials from Tsubasa and Hitagi. During this time, his sisters have noticed that he had stopped doing leisure time with them, which is in fact Koyomi's way of protecting them from his superhuman strength from being part-vampire. He later discusses his plans about his secret as a vampire from Mayoi, before heading to Nadeko in a promised visit to her house. After being kicked out of Nadeko's and paying a visit to Suruga Kanbaru's, Koyomi meets a mysterious figure who introduces himself as Deishuu Kaiki. When he tells Hitagi of this, she knocks him out and imprisons him for his own safety. Koyomi learns from Hitagi that Kaiki is the conman who deceived her mother. Koyomi breaks free when he later gets a text from his sister asking for help. However, Hitagi only lets him leave when she gets a phone call from Tsubasa. Koyomi finds Karen in a feverish state and eventually learns that Kaiki inflicted her with poison from a supernatural bee during a confrontation with him. He is told by Shinobu Oshino, who he learns is actually quite talkative, that he must drain the poison from her. He manages to drain half of it, diminishing her fever somewhat. Koyomi is told by Hitagi that she has planned a meeting with Kaiki and convinces her not to confront him without him being there. He later returns home to find that Karen has left to once again meet up with Kaiki. With Shinobu's help he finds her but a serious battle ensues between them. However, he manages to convince Karen that her sense of justice is wrong and to let him deal with Kaiki instead. He and Hitagi later confront Kaiki who has already decided to leave the city and assures Koyomi that Karen will recover in a matter of days. Hitagi lets off the years of pain she had harbored against him and allows him to leave unscathed. ''Tsukihi Phoenix'' During this time, Koyomi starts finding himself in more lecherous positions with his sisters. For instance, when he and Karen play a game where Koyomi brushes her teeth the two are caught up in the moment and aroused by it. It even reaches to the point where Karen even gives her brother consent to grope her. He doesn't due to Tsukihi walking in on them. He also strips Tsukihi, but it is shortly revealed that this was due to his shock in finding that her scars had completely disappeared. However, he does grope her, claiming that he only wanted to see what her breasts felt like. Later on, due to certain circumstances he kisses Tsukihi and confirms he felt nothing from it. He then proceeds to put his life on the line for her, subsequently taking a beating worse than even the time he fought Kanbaru. ''Tsubasa Family'' During Golden Week, Koyomi has been overwhelmed by an unexplainable feeling whenever he sees Tsubasa and asks his sisters about this particular feeling. Tsukihi thinks that Koyomi is falling in love, but needs to distinguish true love from sexual frustration first; on the other hand, Karen thinks that his view of Tsubasa is understandable. Koyomi soon meets Tsubasa by chance and they have a quick stroll. Here, he found out that Tsubasa was hit by her father that morning, and has her cheek covered by bandages because of that. Koyomi decides to help her by using his vampire blood to heal the wound on her cheek. Afterwards, Koyomi and Tsubasa see a dead cat lying on the road, and Koyomi goes with Tsubasa as she buries the cat nearby. Later that day, Tsubasa transforms into a girl with feline traits and silver hair for the first time. Worried about Tsubasa's condition, he asks for Meme's help. Meme tries to subdue Tsubasa in her new form, but was unable to defeat her using non-lethal tactics even after twenty attempts. Koyomi then decides to deal with Tsubasa by himself. In his need to borrow Shinobu's oddity-killing sword Kokorowatari, Koyomi pleaded to Shinobu many times. Eventually, he manages to make Shinobu lend her sword to him. Soon, he concealed the sword in his body and lured Tsubasa into coming to the ruins of Eikou Cram School. There, he finds out that Tsubasa has a degree of control over the sawarineko that apparently "possessed" her, and that her actions as the oddity were fueled by her own thoughts. Enraged by this, Tsubasa attacks Koyomi and splits him in two, and ends up being injured by the Kokorowatari. However, Koyomi is shocked as the sawarineko loses control of itself, risking Tsubasa's identity in the process. Koyomi was later rescued by Shinobu, who was disappointed in seeing him use the sword in the wrong way. After swallowing the sword, Shinobu bites Tsubasa, suppressing the oddity inside her. Koyomi later makes a complete recovery after Shinobu uses her presence to boost Koyomi's regenerative abilities. After the events in Golden Week, Koyomi gives up on his feelings towards Tsubasa, but remains being friends with her. ''Tsubasa Tiger'' Koyomi spent most of his time outside of his house from the last days of summer break to the first days of the next school term, only informing Hitagi and Tsubasa about "something important that he needs to do" through text message. (Due to Tsubasa Tiger being told from Tsubasa's point of view, most of Koyomi's activities were left unknown, but are later revealed in Mayoi Jiangshi and Shinobu Time.) When Tsubasa was about to be killed on the railroad near Hitagi's house by Kako, Koyomi comes out of nowhere in tattered clothes. He cast Shinobu's sword, Kokorowatari, into the back of Kako's neck from a distance, thereby ending the tiger's fiery rampage with one fatal strike. Before the tiger's imminent death, he asks Tsubasa if she wanted to absorb it into her body. After reassuring Tsubasa that she is herself with or without the tiger, Koyomi declined her confession of love. Koyomi would remain by her side, comforting Tsubasa. ''Mayoi Jiangshi'' Koyomi reminisces his conversation with Ougi Oshino about road safety. Later, Koyomi looks for Mayoi to return her backpack that she left at his house. During his search, he meets Yotsugi and he spends some time in a conversation with her for a while with Mayoi as one of their topics. After being unsuccessful in finding Mayoi, Koyomi returns to his house. Shinobu reminds him that he only has a few hours left to finish his summer homework. Hearing this, Koyomi panics and asks Shinobu to give him a time machine to travel to the day before.Second Season Episode 07: Mayoi Jiangshi, Part 1 Although Shinobu reprimands him for being excessively dependent on her powers, she brings him to Kita-Shirahebi Shrine and uses the residual energy within the complex to create a portal to the past. To Koyomi's shock, he and Shinobu are brought by the portal to May 13, eleven years into the past, the day before the accident that claimed Mayoi Hachikuji's life. Koyomi decides to save Mayoi using this opportunity. With some help from Shinobu, they are able to track down Mayoi and prevent the vehicular accident that killed her before helping Mayoi in reaching the Tsunade Residence, where her mother is living.Second Season Episode 08: Mayoi Jiangshi, Part 2 Shinobu and Koyomi return to the Kita-Shirahebi Shrine and Shinobu creates another portal to the present time. Upon their return, however, they stumble upon a ruined landscape. Koyomi eventually pieces down the clues to determine that they are in a post-apocalyptic scenario. Shinobu later clarifies that the end of the world was indirectly caused by Koyomi's rescue of Mayoi, preventing Koyomi from finding Shinobu and bringing her to end the world, especially with Koyomi eventually dying in the hands of Black Hanekawa. Although stricken with guilt, Shinobu is cheered up by Koyomi, who prioritizes their survival for the meantime. As a result, Shinobu regains her vampire powers and, as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade spreads her influence by turning mankind into incomplete vampires that resemble zombies before attempting to kill herself through self-immolation.Second Season Episode 09: Mayoi Jiangshi, Part 3 In an attempt to find survivors, Koyomi scavenges fireworks and makes a makeshift summer festival with Shinobu. Later, they alert their presence to the zombies but are saved by a girl who Koyomi later discovers is Mayoi Hachikuji, now a 21-year-old survivor. After Mayoi finds out that he is Koyomi Araragi, she hands over a letter addressed to him by none other that Meme Oshino. After reading Meme's letter, Koyomi decides to part ways with Mayoi and focus more on stopping Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade.Second Season Episode 10: Mayoi Jiangshi, Part 4 Shinobu and Koyomi confront Kiss-Shot in Kita-Shirahebi Shrine, armed with replicas of the Kokorowatari. However, although Kiss-Shot appears in her injured state, she did not turn aggressive towards them. Instead, she shows self-pity for bringing herself to such a scenario, and chooses to sacrifice her energy to Shinobu in order to create a portal to the proper present time. The two eventually return to August 21 of the present time. With Koyomi late for class with undone homework, he heads back home with Mayoi tagging along after looking for him. ''Nadeko Medusa'' During late October, Koyomi is given a talisman by Izuko Gaen to watch over for the meantime. Meanwhile, Nadeko begins suffering from seeing hallucinations of white snakes, something that she tries to keep a secret from Koyomi. Eventually, an entity called Kuchinawa makes contact with Nadeko, and Nadeko is given a mission to retrieve the snake-like entity's body, which eventually brings Nadeko to Koyomi's bedroom. This first visit to Koyomi's bedroom allows Nadeko to talk to Tsukihi again, as well as lose her forelocks for the first time. Koyomi eventually sees Nadeko in the act of taking Izuko's talisman after she sneaked into the house for a second visit. Because of a misunderstanding with Koyomi and some harsh words from Shinobu Oshino, Nadeko is brought to swallow the talisman, transforming her into a snake god. Both Koyomi and Shinobu are brought close to death by Nadeko's attacks, but Hitagi manages to enter a deal with Nadeko, asking her to wait until graduation day until she could exact her revenge. ''Shinobu Time'' In their way back to the Araragi Residence to retrieve Mayoi's backpack, both Mayoi and Koyomi suddenly finds an unseen entity pursuing them. The chase eventually brings them to Yotsugi, who agrees to help them despite having a job herself. Yotsugi brings them to Eikou Cram School, and leaves them there momentarily, long enough for Shinobu to tell the story of how she created her first minion in hopes that it would help identify their most recent threat. Yotsugi eventually returns to accompany Koyomi, Mayoi and Shinobu, although the sudden reappearance of the entity later called "Kurayami" separates Shinobu from Koyomi. Although Koyomi is worried about Shinobu's safety, Yotsugi pushes him to focus on looking for Izuko Gaen, who can help them in dealing with "Kurayami". However, as they reach Izuko's home, Izuko reveals that "Kurayami" is targeting Mayoi and she confronts Mayoi about not telling the truth about being the lost cow, as well as remaining on the realm of the living. Koyomi refuses to let Mayoi be consumed, and is even willing to be lost with Mayoi. But, Mayoi decides to pass on in order to keep Koyomi safe. ''Hitagi End'' Koyomi spends much of his time studying for his college exams. He does occasionally visit Nadeko, now the local god of Kita-Shirahebi Shrine, but every visit always ends up with him coming home gravely injured by Nadeko. Without Koyomi knowing about it, Hitagi has asked the help of Deishuu Kaiki to deceive Nadeko and allow her and Koyomi to live past their graduation day. He appears at what he thought was another visit to the shrine, after Nadeko has been "tricked" by Kaiki into reverting back to a human and discovering other aspects in life other than her unrequited love. Here, Koyomi expresses his guilt for not being able to help Nadeko even with his powerlessness to save her and rejectedly learns from Kaiki of his harmful existence to Nadeko. Following Deishuu's advice, Koyomi chooses to keep out of her life from then on. ''Suruga Devil'' After graduating from Naoetsu Private High School, Koyomi received a yellow car as a graduation present from his parents and has just recently received his driver's license. While driving around town, he stumbles upon Suruga lying in the middle of a rural crossroad and gave her a ride in his car. Here, the two friends talk about his car, as well as Suruga's dilemma regarding Rouka Numachi, a former acquaintance of Suruga's from middle school. Koyomi's advice motivates Suruga in making the decision to face Rouka again. The day after Rouka's last match against Suruga, Koyomi is invited by Suruga to the Kanbaru Residence to have Suruga's hair cut back to the short one she sported during his first meeting with her. Koyomi also agrees to ask help from his younger sister Tsukihi to locate Rouka's grave. Yotsugi Doll Trivia *It seems he still has vampire fangs although it's not shown much. The fangs are visible in Episode 1 of Bakemonogatari when he's about to pull a staple from his mouth. *Araragi was not depicted in the light novels' illustrations. His character design was created by Akio Watanabe, who supervised the character designs for the anime series. *Koyomi has a fetish for short-haired girls; a fact that caused Tsubasa and Hitagi to change their hairstyles during summer vacation. *Koyomi's personality was portrayed more clearly in the novels, where his inner thoughts show him to be much more perverted and intelligent than the anime leads one to believe. Gallery araragi profile.jpg Araragi profile.png|School Uniform school uniform.jpg|School Uniform designs Araragi.Koyomi.full.911970.jpg|Sweatshirt designs Tumblr nbbafmZJUo1qcfvffo7 1280.jpg StrangeHead.jpg real araragi.jpg|A more realistically drawn Araragi winter araragi.jpg|Winter sweatshirt design from Tsukimonogatari Not lame kirito.png|Slightly older Araragi in Hanamonogatari with long hair 295375.jpg 1444415180-18d56103e9c9e538060d3aff81abf1e7.jpeg|Araragi in Owarimonogatari tumblr_nvo1vuwSBL1ut6bp7o2_1280.jpg|Araragi as he appears in the Kizumonogatari films. He has his bangs covering the left side of his face instead of his usual right. tumblr_nyw6tdoifC1r2r59eo1_1280.jpg|Vampire Araragi with sharp fangs rain araragi.png 517982_028.jpg dr6za3juywdaoxtynemh.jpg tumblr_nvnugtzKq81s307p6o1_500.gif|Araragi's outfit is also rather unique in the films, sporting a brown hoodie with a peace symbol necklace. References Navigation es:Koyomi Araragi Category:Characters Category:Males